40k Legends: Lord Commander Eidolon of the Emperor's Children

The Risen; A Tale of Eidolon

Eidolon, born of Terra, elevated to the rank of Lord Commander of the Emperor's Children was, hailed as the exemplar of all that the Emperor's Children aspired to, or at least that's how it was 10,000 years ago.

During the Great Crusade, after the Cleansing of Laeran, Chief Apothecary Fabius was given free leave to do what was needed to enhance the gene-seed of the Astartes. Fabius set up a research facility aboard the Andronius, a Strike Cruiser under the authority of Lord Commander Eidolon. Eidolon had taken a personal interest in Fabius' work, and although disapproving of his methods, Eidolon informed Fabius that he would begin his experimentation on him. Through the Apthecary's genetic enhancements, the Lord Commander became faster, and more deadly than ever before. Fabius had implanted a modified tracheal implant that bonded with the Lord Commander's vocal chords, allowing him to produce a nerve paralysing shriek, similar to that employed by certain warrior breeds encountered on Laer. It was thanks to this newly acquired ability that Eidolon was able to destroy the Warsinger on Istvaan Extremis with a devastating sonic shriek, becoming the first of a new breed of warrior, the Noise Marines.

However Eidolon would owe Fabius for more than just his enhanced abilities, but for his life. Eidolon made the foul hardy mistake of questioning his Primarch's orders, which proved fatal, and quicker than the mind's eye could follow, the Primarch withdrew the deadly Kinebreach Anathame blade from its scabbard and beheaded his once-favoured son. In a moment of remorse, Fulgrim ordered the Apothecary to restore the slain Lord Commander back to life. Fortunately for Eidolon, Fulgrim's killing stroke was such a clean cut that Fabius was able to reconnect the nerve clusters at the base of the neck. Unfortunately, Eidolon would live the remainder of his days in pain like no other, but with thanks to his corruption of Slaanesh every instant of life given to him would be spent in a symphony of both pain and pleasure. Forever after, his fellow brothers would simply refer to him as "The Risen".

How to run him in a game of Horus Heresy

Well Eidolon is a character available from the Horus Heresy - Book Two, so there is not a lot you need to do to make this guy work, simply take him as a HQ choice for an Emperor's Children army representing the Traitors. But I have given you a look at his rules as this will come into how we design his character in the later days of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

How do I run him in Warhammer 40k

Well this one is a little bit trickier, because Chaos Space Marines (CSM) do not have him as an available character, the only 2 original Emperor's Children models available for us in the CSM Codex is Lucius the Eternal and Fabius Bile, neither of which would be even remotely workable (even as a "Counts As").

So lets see what we have to work with, some items will come across easier than others:

• Chaos Lord: This is fairly obvious, it is the only unit entry that would even come close to a good option for a Lord Commander. A Chaos Lord is pretty close to the same stat line as Eidolon's 30k stat line, with just 1 less attack and a 3+ save instead of a 2+ save.
• Mark of Slaanesh and VotLW: Well these should also be fairly obvious, he has been around since before the Heresy and has dedicated himself to the Chaos God Slaanesh.
• Jump Pack: You can take it or leave it with the Jump Pack, as Eidolon can rock it if he wants to or not if he wants to chill in a rhino with his home boys.
• Sigil of Corruption: This is the closest CSM have to an Iron Halo, and would grant our 40k version a 4++ Invulnerable Save.
• Power Maul, the Black Mace or Power Fist: So Eidolon runs around with an ornate Master-Crafted Thunder Hammer, an upgrade not available to CSM for some reason. So you can either run it as:
• A Power Maul which is the closest weapon available aesthetically to the Thunder Hammer, although it obviously packs no where near as much of a punch.
• The Black Mace which also shares a similar look to the Power Maul isn't that far from a Thunder Hammer also, and packs a bigger punch than that of the Power Maul, but still a much higher AP than the Thunder Hammer.
• As a Chaos Artefact this means that I will not be able to take another rumoured artefact that you will see below...
• A Power Fist which is the closest weapon available rules wise to the Thunder Hammer with the X2 Strength and AP2, however looks nothing like a Thunder Hammer.
• Shriekwave: Now this is a new rumoured artefact from the Traitor's Legion Codex Supplement due out on the 10th of December. This is as close as I think we are going to get to Eidolon's modified tracheal implant, or rules wise Eidolon's 30k special rule Death Scream. It is a Chaos Artefact, so would rule out the Black Mace if you take this one, which is a closer fit to Eidolon anyways. It is a Ranged Weapon with the following profile:
• Range 12", S8, AP2, Assault D6
• Mental Trauma: Before attacking, the target must take a leadership test, if they fail you re-roll to wound.

So all up you are looking at somewhere around 140 points without a Jump Pack and assuming he is taken in an EC Detachment (ie. Free VotLW). Sure you can take him a little cheaper without some of the bells and whistles, and it would still work, but the above I think best captures what Eidolon is in the 41st Millenium